


The Entranced

by fireworksandcryofreeze, majel



Category: Captain America (Movies), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Gen, Pokemon AU, caprbb2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-04-23 02:29:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19141744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fireworksandcryofreeze/pseuds/fireworksandcryofreeze, https://archiveofourown.org/users/majel/pseuds/majel
Summary: It's been almost a year Bucky went missing, around the same time the first Entranced Pokemon were discovered, and Steve will do whatever it takes to defeat Hydra, heal the Entranced Pokemon, and, most importantly, find his best friend.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfiction was inspired by artwork created by the talented @majel as a part of the 2019 Cap RBB (see the art here: https://itsmajel.tumblr.com/post/185446213563/im-finally-getting-to-share-the-first-of-my-three). The Entranced Pokemon were based off of Shadow Pokemon from the game Pokemon Colosseum, which was my favorite Pokemon game as a kid. Come say hi to us on tumblr at @fireworksandcryofreeze and @itsmajel.

[](https://imgur.com/2bsI26H)

Steve had seen the Entranced often enough now to recognize them almost instantly when they were released from their Pokéballs. There were the more obvious signs—the strange, stiff movements, the fighting style of a Pokémon who had no regard for their own health and safety let alone that of their opponents, how they were nearly always sent out to fight alone rather than in pairs as they had a tendency to forget which Pokémon they were meant to fight and which they were meant to leave alone. But there was something about their eyes too. He hadn't noticed it until he'd started caring for Entranced Pokémon himself, but there was a lack of focus there, a gaze that was unsettling, almost dizzying when held for too long. He couldn't put his finger exactly on what the difference was, their eyes were the same color, they tracked movement as they should, their pupils adjusted to light, but something about them just felt wrong. Even his Entranced Eevee, who he'd captured around six months ago and who had started to listen to him, maybe trust him even, had eyes that left him unsettled.

When this fighter sent out a single Ponyta, Steve knew right away, and from the glance his Bellossom gave him, so did she. The Ponyta's mane and tail blazed too brightly in a way that seemed to threaten to engulf the Pokémon in flame. Steve considered for a moment calling Bellossom back in. As a grass type, battling a fire type Pokémon was always an uphill battle, but to fight an Entranced fire type, who wouldn't hold back, wouldn't know how to restrain themselves enough to cause their opponent to faint but stop before they were severely injured or killed, was a huge risk. But he could see the determination in Bellossom's stance. Rescuing the Entranced was her mission as much as it was his own and they had been training different scenarios for handling them since they had first learned about the Entranced a year prior. Still, Steve kept a hand on the Pokéball for Squirtle just in case Bellossom needed a break or to be extinguished if the Ponyta's fire attacks were too strong. He wasn’t opposed in theory to calling a second Pokémon out into battle against an Entranced Pokémon since typical duel rules didn’t apply when you were planning to snag the other trainer’s Pokémon, but the one time he had tried it in the past, the opposing trainer had called back his Pokémon and run off. Calling a second Pokémon mid-battle was too much of a give away that he was a SHIELD agent.

"Bellossom, use Leaf Storm" Steve called, and Bellossom was moving before he'd closed his mouth around the final syllable, sending a shower of leaves hurling at the Ponyta. She knew the plan. Move fast—Entranced Pokémon are easily confused and don't anticipate attacks that aren't coming straight on—focus on dodging and strike to weaken the Entranced enough for capture but never let them faint. In this battle, it would also be important to fight from a distance. With some of the bigger or slower Entranced Pokémon, it was better to fight up close and try to bound around the Pokémon’s feet to confuse them and trip them up. But with the fire licking at the grass near the Ponyta’s tail, Bellossom would need to rely on distance attacks. Steve needed to focus too. He'd give more commands if he saw an opening that Bellossom didn't or an attack that might take her by surprise, but mostly he was waiting for his opening as he'd likely only have the one shot. He needed to throw his Pokéballs when the Entranced was weak enough to be vulnerable to capture, but if he guessed even a little wrong the Entranced could break out of the Pokéball, in which case, the other trainer would immediately call the Entranced back or the Entranced might faint and be returned to the trainer. Even with practice, Steve still had a hard time anticipating the exact right moment to throw the Pokéball. The Entranced were harder to read than normal Pokémon as they didn't show the signs of strain and injury as clearly as a regular Pokémon and were better at breaking free of capture. There had been so many Entranced who had seemed fine one moment and then had fainted before Steve had even thought to shoot his shot or had barely been able to stand and yet had broken free. Those were the ones who kept him up at night. The ones he could have save if he had just been a little faster, a little better at this.

The other trainer shouted, “Ponyta, quick attack,” but didn’t seemed shocked when the Ponyta ignored the command and used a fire type attack move instead, blazing brighter and sending embers of fire shooting at Bellossom. Bellossom danced backwards, gracefully dodging the sparks that landed around her and left scorch marks in the grass. The Ponyta seemed agitated, pawing at the grass with its hoof and shaking its mane which rained sparks down around it. The Entanced had little patience, preferring a fast, up-close fight rather than taking their time with a strategy, and this Ponyta seemed more impatient than most. This worked well to Steve’s advantage as the more agitated the Ponyta got, the sloppier its attacks would be.

“Bellossom, use max drain.” A distance draining move rather than an attack would be just the thing to drive the Ponyta over the edge. Sure enough, even as the current of energy flowing from the Ponyta to Bellossom was still moving, the Ponyta let out a grunt and then began to charge Bellossom. The trainer hadn’t called an attack and didn’t move to get her Ponyta back under control. She seemed to understand that nothing she did, short of calling the Pontya back, would have any effect.

Steve tensed, hand tightening around Squirtle’s Pokéball, as the Ponyta charged. But he too stayed quiet. Bellossom saw the attack coming and he didn’t want to risk distracting her by calling out a command. At the last moment, Bellossom jumped back and used her Leaf Blade attack while still in the air. Steve couldn’t help the congratulatory noise that escaped him—a Leaf Blade attack done mid-air!—but they weren’t in the clear yet. The attack had send sparks flying off the Ponyta, singing some of Bellossom’s petals, and while that attack had been a solid hit, Steve was fairly certain they would need to land one more before he would have a chance to snag the Ponyta. Bellossom was closer now to the Ponyta than ideal and already the Ponyta was shaking its head to regain focus after the hit and preparing for its own attack.

“Bellossom, use Stun Spore,” Steve shouted. It was a gamble—stun spore could cause a Pokémon to temporarily lose their ability to attack but it didn’t always work and it was less consistent with Entranced Pokémon, but they had been training that move to make it more efficient and it felt like their best bet. Bellossom hesitated for just a moment but sent out the spores. The Ponyta scraped its paw on the ground, tensing to charge again as spores reached its face and it breathed them in. For a horrible moment, Steve thought the move had failed and the Ponyta would charge Bellossom who was just a few strides away, but then the tension left the Ponyta’s body and the blaze of its mane and tail returned to normal levels.

“Max drain,” Steve said and shifted his hand toward the empty Pokéball from his belt, preparing to throw when Bellossom had drained enough of the Ponyta’s energy. He kept a close eye on the Ponyta, waiting for a sign that it was about to faint, but risked a moment to look away to check that the other trainer hadn’t caught onto him. There was tension in the line of her shoulders but for now she didn’t seem to be reaching for her own Pokéball to call her Ponyta back, so Steve brought his attention back to the Pokémon. The Ponyta tilted its head to the side once, twice, and just as it seemed to be about to fall over entirely, Steve grabbed his Pokéball and tossed it. Bellossom saw his movement and stopped the attack. The Ponyta disappeared into the Pokéball which twitched just once before settling still on the ground. The woman cried out incredulously and launched a string of curse words as she bolted forward toward the Pokéball. But Steve was already there, clicking the ball back into its spot on his belt. The other trainer froze, locking eyes with Steve for a moment. He could read the anger and frustration written into the clench of her fists and the furrow of her brow, but there was something else there too. Fear perhaps in her eyes as she stared at him for a moment then turned and bolted away.

Her fear worried Steve. For all they had learned about the Entranced Pokémon over the past year, they had learned nothing about the people creating and fighting with them. They had no guesses as to their plans. But he didn’t have time to worry about what this woman may have to fear at the moment. Now he needed to get Bellossom and his new Pokémon back to the makeshift headquarters SHIELD had set up in Professor Erskine’s lab in New Bark Town to heal them up and report the battle Director Fury. And also, and perhaps most importantly, congratulate Bellossom for what had been a spectacular battle.

 

Fortunately--well depending on how you looked at it--Steve hadn't gotten very far from the New Bark Town before running into the woman with the Entranced Ponyta. He should be able to make the walk back by mid-evening to heal up both his Bellossom and the Ponyta and work with Director Fury on finding a trainer to place the Ponyta with. Almost all of the SHIELD trainers had an Entranced Pokémon placed with them to work on developing a relationship with. While they had yet to find a true cure for the Entranced Pokémon, Professor Erskine was hard at work on finding a solution and for now, they knew that working consistently with the same trainer, ideally one who had a lot of experience working with that type of Pokémon, could help the Entranced Pokémon over time to listen to their trainer and decrease their reckless behavior that led to them harming themselves and their teammates in battles. Steve's Entranced Eevvee had been paired with him months ago and was just beginning to follow commands, but still couldn't be sent out with other Pokémon. It never sat with Steve quite right, the idea of training the Eevvee to follow his orders and battle safely when he didn't know if she would have wanted to battle for him if she was able to make clear decisions on her own, like all his other Pokémon did. But so far it was the best option SHIELD had come up with as the Entranced Pokémon could not be safely released into the wild. Their only instinct seemed to be to attack, not to find shelter or food. Steve had to coax his Eevvee into eating and resting outside of her Pokeball.  
Steve resisted the urge to run back to the center, knowing that exhausting himself when he was alone in an effort to get back a little earlier was impractical at best and unsafe at worst. But he wanted to talk to Fury about the increase in Hydra trainers in the area and see what Fury thought their motivation might be. He had been out for a patrol of the area since there hadn't been any major Hydra sightings recently and there were no missions for SHIELD to carry out. There was talk of sightings of Hydra trainers in the area, but he hadn't expected to encounter one so early in his patrol, so close to a major city. So far, Hydra trainers mostly stayed off the grid, only making appreances in large groups to attack a base or steal supplies. He wasn't sure what to make of them showing up individually close to a city, but he imagined it meant nothing good.

Steve walked for several hours without incident through forest paths leading back to New Bark City. There were a few wild Pokémon who popped up as he walked, but they were scared off easily by his own Pokémon. The lab was in sight as Steve finished walking through the last forest on the edge of the city and noticed a figure in black standing at the edge of the forest line, staring.

Steve wasn't sure what to make of the man who was standing so still in the shadow of a tree that Steve almost hadn't noticed him. It was his stare that had alerted Steve; even though he couldn't see the man's eyes through the goggles he was wearing, he could sense something wrong in the weight of eyes on him, a stare that made the hairs on the back of Steve's neck stand up. The man was dressed in black tactical gear with combat boots, gloves, and a mask that covered his mouth and eyes leaving his forehead the only visible patch of skin on his entire body. His brown hair was nearly shoulder length and shaggy spilling over the edges of his mask, the only part of the figure that seemed a little bit impractical for a fight. Mostly, Steve's eyes were drawn to the metal of the man's left arm. At first, he wondered if it was armor of some sort covering the man's arm for protection, but under closer inspection, he could see how the plates of metal fit together forming bendable joints that would've cut too deep into skin if there had been any to sever. No, the arm was a prosthesis, one far more advanced than any Steve had seen before and was marked with a red star on the shoulder. A red star wasn't a symbol associated with Hydra as far as Steve was aware, but he knew instinctively that this was a Hydra trainer. Perhaps if Steve was lucky, the man would only battle him with Pokémon and not with his metal fist.  
Steve waited in the mouth of the forest path opening, waiting to see what the man would do, not wanting to either move forward past the man and allow him to attack from behind or take an offensive more himself. He didn't have to wait long before the Hydra trainer sprang into action, moving with a grace and a ferocity that sent shivers down Steve's spine. This man didn't move like a person; he moved like a Pokémon drawing in for a final blow. Once he was standing in front of Steve, blocking the path forward, he grabbed a Pokeball from his tactical belt and threw it between them without a word.

Despite being certain that this man was a Hydra trainer who would engage him in a battle, Steve was surprised by the silence that hung between them. Steve had fought dozens of Hydra trainers by this point and snagged a handful of their Entranced Pokémon, but the Hydra trainers he had fought had always started their battles in the traditional manner of introducing themselves and challenging Steve to a duel. Even if Steve wouldn't have been able to safely refuse the challenge, there was still the formality in place of starting every battle by issuing the challenge and calling on their Pokémon as they released them to fight. This man said nothing, issued no commands to his Graveler as it emerged from its Pokeball, and didn't wait make any attempt to wait for Steve to call on his own Pokémon to start the battle.

Steve stumbled backwards grabbing blindly at the Pokeballs on the side of his tactical belt and throwing the first one he got his fingers around. Normally he went into a battle with a strategy in mind, especially when some of his Pokeballs contained Pokémon already in need of healing, but then again he had never been charged by a Pokémon before in a duel. The Graveler was only a few feet in front of him when Steve's Noctowl sprang out of the Pokeball and without needing to be told, used a gust attack to blow the Graveler backwards until it was no longer close enough to attack Steve. A flying type wouldn't have been Steve's first pick when fighting a rock type Pokémon but his Noctowl had been with him for years and could often tell what Steve needed him to do even before Steve called a command. Not all Pokémon had that sort of bond with their trainer and this time, Steve was fairly certain that relationship had just saved his life.

He didn't have time to reflect on Noctowl's strengths or strategy in this fight, however, as the Graveler was up and charging back toward them the moment Noctowl's gust had stopped. 

"Noctowl, arial ace," Steve said, risking a more time-consuming move in the hopes that it would hold the Graveler back for longer. Noctowl spun into the air, gaining height, and swooped down building speed as he dove straight into the oncoming Graveler. As Noctowl prepared for attack, Steve continued to retreat from the Graveler, who was still too close for comfort, and threw another Pokeball as Noctowl collided into the Graveler, sending them both sprawling back across the grass. 

"Squirtle, hydropump. Noctowl, sky attack." Steve shouted the second Squirtle emerged onto the field. Calling in a second mid-battle was just not done, but neither was having your Pokémon charge your opposing trainer, and Steve knew he needed to get the advantage here however he could. Noctowl flew up and out of the way right in time for Squirtle to blast a jet of water in the Graveler's face. The Graveler was clearly Entranced, but this attack was strong enough to keep it down for a couple seconds.  
"Squirtle, blizzard," Steve said. Blizzard was Squirtle's newest attack, so her accuracy wasn't great. Still, if they could manage to freeze the Graveler in place, that would be a huge help, and if not, the ice on the field would hopefully slow it down while Noctowl got ready to make his next dive. Squirtle flooded the field with barrage of slushy snow, which settled down around the Graveler's feet, but didn't seem to deal any damage. Steve's feet and legs were splattered with snow as was the opposing trainer from top to bottom. The snow stood out against his dark hair and clothes, but he made no attempt to brush it away. He simply flung slush-covered goggles from his face and grabbed another Pokeball from his belt.

Steve should have been focused on the battle surrounding him--on anticipating and preparing to react to the new Pokémon about to be brought in to fight--but instead all of his attention was on the Hydra trainer's eyes. As Steve had been retreating from the charging Graveler, his opponent had been walking forward, keeping the distance between them small so the fight was close at hand. He couldn't have been more than fifteen feet away, and Steve felt again uneasy about the way the man looked at him. Now that the goggles were gone, he could see the unfocused, unsteady gaze which seemed to be both unfocused and somehow staring straight into him. He felt instantly dizzy for two reasons. One, this man had the eyes of an Entranced Pokémon. And two, he had seen these dark brown eyes before.

"Bucky?" Steve asked.


	2. Chapter 2

The man didn't respond to Steve, didn't even seem to register that he had said anything at all. Instead he flung a Pokeball into the field and a Quilava exploded out in a ball of flame, melting the slush around its feet and those of the Graveler, only a few feet away. Both Pokémon began to charge forward--had Steve not been both distracted and in imminent danger, he would've been impressed that the two Ensnared Pokémon were so close to each other and still managing to stay on target rather than fighting each other--instead Steve stumbled backward a few steps, mind reeling. He needed to make a call fast. He wasn't used to Hydra opponents being this skilled or their Pokémon this under control, and he was paying for that underestimation. Noctowl was poised for his arial attack and dove down, slamming into the Graveler and knocking it onto its back. 

"Squirtle," Steve said, "water jet at Quilava." Squirtle blasted a stream of water at the Quilava, but it had less of an effect than Steve had hoped. The Quilava's flames steamed and shrunk minimally, but it continued its charge.

"Hey, Steve," called a voice from above. "Need some help?" Steve huffed a sigh of relief at the familiar voice of Sam, another Shield agent. Sam landed his Staraptor beside Steve and swung himself of her back. 

"Staraptor, wing attack," Sam said. But before his Staraptor had taken to the air, the Hydra trainer had his empty Pokeballs in hand and had called both his Graveler and Quilava back. He threw out the single pokeball kept on the right side on his belt, the others were in a line on the left side, and before Steve could get a good look on who the new Pokémon was, he was thrown of his feet, slamming into the ground several yards behind where he had been standing, and his lungs were full of smoke.

 

Steve wondered how long he'd been out for as he cracked his eyes open and struggled to sit up. His head was throbbing to the beat of his sped-up pulse and his back ached as he moved. The air was still full of smoke so it couldn't have been too long since he'd lost consciousness. He let out a round of hacking coughs before pulling his shirt up to filter the worst of the smoke out of the air so he could get in a deep breath. He closed his eyes and counted to ten just breathing and trying to pull himself together. He needed to focus so he could find Sam and his Pokémon and make sure everyone was safe and figure out what the hell happened.

He finished his count and reopened his eyes, taking stock of his surroundings. The blast of the explosion had sent them all flying back toward the edge of the forest. Sam was to his left, pushing himself to his feet with no immediately obvious injuries. Beside him was his Staraptor who was pruning soot and dirt from her feathers but didn't seem hurt. Noctowl, who must have gained enough height to avoid the force of the explosion, was standing a yard or two in front of Steve, looking neither hurt nor even affected by whatever had happened, and yet was cawing in distress. Steve pushed himself to standing and rushed over to her, now seeing that she had taken a defensive position next to Squirtle, who was unconscious on scorched earth, covered in soot and abrasions. Steve bent down and gathered Squirtle into his arms. He was still breathing steadily, and Steve knew he would be fine once treated at the medical center, as long as Steve got him there quickly. 

Steve looked toward the field where they had been fighting, noting the pattern of burnt grass radiating out from a circle of untouched grass in the middle of the field. In that center rested a Voltorb, passed out from the exhaustion of its explosive movement. He shifted Squirtle so he could hold him with a single arm and used the other to toss an empty Pokeball and catch the Voltorb. A presumably Entranced Voltorb--how dangerous, Steve thought, and yet how clever. The perfect last ditch measure to ensure a safe escape. 

 

Steve sat in the grass with his back to the brick wall of the building SHIELD had made their regional headquarters with his newly healed Pokémon spread out through the yard. Noctowl had perched in the single tree in the yard and immediately gone to sleep. Vulpix and Bellossom chased each other around in a game that reminded Steve an awful lot of tag. Mareep didn't quite seem to understand the nuances of the game but was happy to follow behind whoever was closer to her at the time. Squirtle was watering the wildflowers the sprouted in patches among the grass, but Steve suspected he would be roped into playing soon enough. Eevvee was sitting by the bottom of the tree, not engaged but not hostile either. The others kept a respectful distance, but were no longer afraid of her. Someday, Steve thought, they'd figure out how to help the Entranced Pokémon and then Eevvee could really be one of the group. Maybe they would take down Hydra too, and then they could actually relax instead of stealing moments of respite between battles. He could quit working for SHIELD, go back to his hometown, live next door to Bucky...

Steve sighed and Sam, who had just walked out through the back door slid down to sit next to Steve. 

"What's got you looking so glum?" Sam said. "It was only a mild explosion today, hardly a cause for a long face."

Steve gave Sam a half smile, appreciating his attempt at levity. "Pretty sure I'm going to be sneezing soot for the next week." Steve scrubbed a hand at his hair and sighed. There were a lot of things on his mind really. It had been over a year since the first Entranced Pokémon had started popping up and they still hadn't found a way to cure them. According to Fury, Hydra agents had been showing up in greater numbers in Johto and seemed more organized, more aggressive, and they didn't know why. When he and Sam had gotten back, they'd debriefed with Director Fury and Agent Hill and made a plan to bring more agents from other areas to the region to organize patrols around the perimeter of the town and further out into Hex Forest and the towns surrounding it. They were hoping to find a Hydra base in the area where they could centralize an attack and hopefully find information about how Hydra was creating the Entranced Pokémon. Steve was glad there was a plan of action in place, but wished they had something to do that felt like a productive step in defeating Hydra than just protecting the town and looking for a base. He could feel it like an itch under his skin, the need to act, to fight. But mostly it was the eyes of that operative. The entranced brown eyes. The thought alone of Hydra potentially being able to entrance humans would have been highly alarming on its own, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen those eyes before.

"Been thinking about Bucky," Steve said, watching as Squirtle blew bubbles for the others to chase rather than at Sam.

Sam put a hand on Steve's shoulder. "I get it, man. You know I do." 

Steve nodded. Even though Director Fury and several other SHIELD agents knew about Bucky, Sam was the only person Steve talked to about him as a person and not just a case. Steve had told Sam about growing up with Bucky, the battles Bucky had jumped into to help Steve when Steve was wildly outmatched, the nights when Steve was sick and Bucky sent over his Rattatat over to make sure Steve was okay and had someone to keep him company, how he had been there for Steve when Steve's mother had passed away. The other agents knew about Bucky's prowess as a trainer and that he had gone missing ten months ago on a expedition through one of the deep, mostly unexplored forests in search of an mythic Pokémon rumored to live there. But only Sam knew that Steve was supposed to have been on that trip with Bucky, but had decided to stay behind when he'd been commissioned to paint a series of murals. Only Sam knew the guilt that haunted Steve for not going with Bucky or how Steve had spent months searching every inch of those forests for Bucky and hadn't found a single trace. He'd only given up his search when he'd started hearing rumors of the Entranced when he'd stopped in town to heal his Pokémon and buy more supplies. For there he'd found out more about the Entranced, Hydra, and SHIELD and couldn't help but wonder if Bucky's disappearance could be wrapped up in all of that somehow. He suspected there was some sort of foul play involved in Bucky's disappearance. If it had been an accident or wild Pokémon attack, Steve would've found something of Bucky's or one of his Pokémon by now. He hadn't ever given up on the hope that he would find Bucky or that someday the work he was doing with SHIELD would lead him to him.

I was hard to talk to the other agents about his motivations for being in SHIELD, but Sam had lost his best friend, Riley, in one of the first encounters with an Entranced. When people first started fighting them, no one anticipated or understood their erratic behavior or knew that they would attack trainers just as quickly as Pokémon. Steve didn't know the fine details of what had happened, just that Riley had been killed by an Entranced Pokémon, and his death had motivated Sam to leave Kalos, where he had gained a reputation as being one of the best ever sky trainers and was expected to become the new gym leader soon, and join SHIELD. So when Sam said he understood, Steve knew he meant it.

 

Mostly the SHIELD agents already in Johto were staying close to New Bark Town to defend Dr. Erskine's lab turned SHIELD headquarters to maintain SHIELD's resources and protect the research Dr. Erskine was doing. Even though he hadn't found a solution to the Entranced yet, he was one of the foremost researchers on the subject and had helped the trainers understand how to work with Entranced Pokémon to begin developing a bond with them and gain their trust. But they wanted someone to start scouting around the edges of Hex Forest, and Steve had been a natural choice. He wasn't as familiar with the area of the forest he was in now, north of the mountainous area rather than to the western region where he had done most of his searching for Bucky in the months following his disappearance. But he had more knowledge of the layout of the forest than most and far more experience navigating and surviving off-trail in the forest. The plan was for him to work his way around the edge of the forest, looking for signs of Hydra activity, but avoiding contact as much as possible. When he was close to Azalea Town and later Goldenrod City, he would stop in the town Pokémon centers where he would be able to call Director Fury with mission updates. 

 

It had taken Steve a couple days to reach Hex Forest, and his first few days there had been fairly uneventful. He'd started at the northern tip of the forest, even though there hadn't been much Hydra activity in that area. They didn't want to risk missing anything important by assuming there was nothing to find, and they didn't want to make Steve's presence too obvious by having him start in the central area of Hydra activity. He'd been heading south and planning to go around the eastern edge of the mountains when he reached them, which would only be another hour or so of walking. He was moving slowly so he could watch for any signs of disturbance which might lead him to Hydra's base and to avoid provoking any wild Pokémon into a battle, which could alert agents in the area to him. There had still been a few unavoidable battles, but he did his best to make them fast and rely on unflashy grass or normal type attacks.

When he heard a crunch of twigs under a foot too heavy to be anything but human, he froze in his tracks. He was close to the mountains now, so the area around him was hilly and had more fallen trees from those that had grown on the hillsides but hadn't had strong enough roots to hold onto the dirt during a storm. He crouched down behind the exposed roots of one such fallen tree and willed his breath to come quieter. 

A man coming north from the mountains marched past him, crunching leaves and twigs heavily under thick boots. He didn't seem to pay much attention to his surroundings or to remaining hidden, and there was an energy about him which seemed to say, "I am the biggest threat in this forest, mess with me at your own risk." Sunlight glinted off metal as he past Steve's hiding place without noticing him, and Steve recognized the metal hand instantly. It was the Hydra operative he'd fought with Sam; the one who Director Fury had informed him was called the Winter Soldier by some of the SHIELD agents as he had a reputation for knocking people out cold. Steve knew he should stay hidden and continue with his mission, but the thought of this agent had been with him constantly since they had fought last and he couldn't bring himself to let the chance to know the truth slip through his fingers.

"Wait," Steve said, coming to step out from behind the fallen tree's roots, "Bucky, is that you?"

The Winter Soldier turned to face Steve, once again wearing a mask and goggles so Steve couldn't see his eyes, but he didn't pause to answer Steve's question or show any sign of recognition. Instead his hand was immediately at his belt, and he was throwing a Pokeball.

Steve cursed internally, obviously the seemingly-Entranced man was not going to just answer his question, and grabbed for his own Pokeballs.

He brought out Bellossom, knowing he'd want her consistency and ability to predict Steve's commands, regardless of what Pokémon the Winter Soldier brought out. He would pick a second after he saw the Winter Soldier's pick. What he wanted was to put aside the battle and get the Winter Soldier to stop and talk to him, but realistically, he knew he was also in danger. The Winter Soldier fought dirty, and Steve needed to focus first on not getting himself killed when there was no chance for backup. 

The Winter Soldier's pick was a Ratticate who charged out of its Pokémon in a full sprint towards Steve and Bellossom, its eyes swirling, unfocused, and clearly Entranced. Steve's heard lurched. A Rattata had been Bucky's very first Pokémon. He'd found it playing on the edge of town and gotten it to trust him over time by giving it pieces of his lunch. Steve had found his Bellossom injured in the fields outside their hometown a few months later and nursed her back to health. She and Bucky's Raticate had been friends almost as long as he and Bucky themselves. It seemed unlikely to be a coincidence. 

Bellossom held steady despite the Raticate charging straight at her, waiting for Steve to give her a command. But Steve didn't know what to say. How could he ask her to fight her friend, how could he fight his, especially when neither was in control of their actions. 

Steve sprang forward to throw himself between the Pokémon, but he stopped short at the last moment. Raticate had stopped in front of Bellossom, sniffing the air frantically, eyes shaking about. He recognized the look in his face from working with Eevvee. It was the eyes of an Entranced Pokémon fighting for a moment of clarity from the whirlwind screaming at them to attack. Eevvee looked like that when she'd hurt Steve before remembering who he was and that she didn't want to attack him. Bellossom chattered "Bell, bell, bell" excitedly and glanced up at Steve, looking to share with him her discovery of an old friend. But Steve knew he didn't have a moment to celebrate the discovery with her.   
His eyes shot back to where Bucky stood, agitation pouring off of him in the tightening of flesh fingers into a fist and his fidgeting stance. He didn't bother with a command to Raticate and instead brought out another Pokémon, this time a Poochyena, tail puffed up, teeth barred barreling toward both Bellossom and Raticate. The two were distracted and Raticate struggling to stay clear minded, so neither was anticipating being charge by another Pokémon. 

This time Steve did move between Bellossom and the new opponent. The Poochyena reached him and sank its teeth into his leg.

Steve let out a yell. "Bucky, please. I know it's you. It's Steve, please--" The Poochyena released its teeth for a moment just to clamp them down again harder and Steve was cut off with another cry.

Bellossom moved to attack, but Steve called her back to her Pokeball and used one of his spares to grab Raticate, who didn't resist Steve's capture.

The Winter Soldier moved toward Steve at this, metal fist raised, before thinking better of it and throwing another Pokeball. This one a Zubat who came at Steve in a flurry of frantic wingbeats. Steve threw an arm up to protect his face and tried to move backwards, but was stuck in place by the set of teeth still clamping tight on his leg. His movement ripped them teeth down his shin, but didn't dislodge them and the resulting wave of pain made it hard of deflecting the Zubat. As soon as the Zubat bit him several times on his raised arm and neck, the Winter Soldier called both of his Pokémon back. Steve collapsed backward onto the leaves and bumpy tree roots, dizzy from the poison from now coursing through his veins.

The Winter Soldier closed the distance between them and bent to grab the Pokeball containing his Raticate from off of Steve's belt. He had pushed the goggles off of his head at some point during the battle so Steve could see his unsteady eyes.

He reached up his unbitten arm to grab at Bucky's. "Bucky, please," he said, his voice weak as the poison brought him closed to the edge of unconsciousness. 

Bucky's eyes danced about and Steve thought for just a moment that he might break through the entrancing, but the last thing he heard before the world around him faded to black was "who the hell is Bucky?"


	3. Chapter 3

The sun was beginning to set when Steve woke up the forest still dancing in front of his eyes as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. He tore back the tattered fabric of his left pant leg and gritted his teeth at the sight of multiple sets of deep bite marks around his ankle. The bleeding had stopped but when he moved to try to put weight on his left leg, pain shot up through him and one of the deeper marks where a canine tooth had dragged down his leg as he tried to pull out of the Poocheyna’s grasp reopened and began to bleed. Steve wasn’t going to be continuing on his mission any time soon. 

Fortunately, he had food, water, and some basic medical supplies in his bag. Once he’d taken some poison antidote potion and rinsed the wounds on his leg and wrapped it in bandages, he set about the next step of his plan: getting a message back to headquarters. He had a pen, paper, and chord in his pack in case of a situation such as this one. He wrote a note explaining what had happened and his location and rolled up the paper into a small scroll and brought Noctowl out of her Pokeball. Noctowl wasn’t overly fond of carrying messages, she preferred to stay close to the group or battle, but she would take the message back to New Bark Town it Steve asked. 

What Steve wanted to do was hike to the nearest town so he could get his leg stitched up and be ready to start back on his mission as soon as possible. He'd been dedicated to the cause before, but now knowing for certain that the Winter Soldier was Bucky, he was more ready than ever to take down Hydra and get his friend back. Realistically, though, he knew he wasn't going to be able to make it out of the woods without help. He needed to get some sort of shelter set up so he could stay safe overnight while he waited for Noctowl to lead help back to him. Moving would only make it harder for them to find him and make getting mission ready again take longer.

That night he slept fitfully under some branches that he'd fashioned into a lean-to of sorts against the fallen tree. Normally when he camped in the woods, he'd let Noctowl out of her Pokeball at night and she'd fly around but always stayed close by so she could alert Steve to any approaching danger. None of his other Pokémon were nocturnal, and he didn't want to risk any movement or noise they might make drawing attention from other Hydra agents who might be in the area or wild nocturnal Pokémon, so he kept them all in their Pokeballs and hoped that the wooden lean-to would be enough to keep anyone who might be around from spotting him. 

He woke up immediately when he heard the now-familiar sound of twigs cracking under heavy boots. He stiffened and held his breath. He really didn't want to risk another battle with a Hydra agent and it was far too soon for it to be a SHIELD agent coming to help him. The footsteps came closer, paused for a moment, and then set off again receding into the woods. Steve stayed stiff and silent for what felt like hours but he didn't hear anything else. Still, he didn't risk leaving his shelter in case the person was still nearby. He spent the rest of the night awake, staring up at the glimpses of night that were visible through the gaps in the branches watching as the light of dawn began to filter through them.  
Once the sun had risen, Steve couldn't bring himself to wait under his shelter any longer, so he crawled out as quietly as he could while avoiding jostling his injured leg. Outside his make-shift shelter sat a neat pile of objects: some bandages, a bottle of antidote, a protein bar, a flask of water, and one dark, glittering, egg-shaped stone. 

  

Sam and Agent Romanov had found him in the woods with the help of Noctowl later that evening and helped him make it to the nearest town from which they took a boat back to New Bark Town. Neither Steve, Sam, or Natasha knew what to make of the stone that had been left for him, presumably by Bucky in a moment of increased clarity. Steve found some relief in knowing that Bucky had been able to break through the entrancing for long enough to leave Steve the things he knew Steve would need, but Steve wished there had been more. Some note, some sign of how to find Bucky and help him. Instead he had an egg-shaped stone that glittered like the night sky. Whatever material it was made of was not one Steve recognized, but hopefully Dr. Erskine would.

Later, when they reached SHIELD headquarters, Steve was unwilling to wait for his leg to be looked at before going to meet with Dr. Erskine and showing him the stone.  
Dr. Erskine took the stone from Steve and rotated it in his hand under the bright lamp on one of his work benches.

"Hmmm," said Dr. Erskine, "I've never encountered anything quite like this before." 

Steve shrank into himself with disappointment.

"But," continued Dr. Erskine, "I do have a theory. The reason I set up my lab in this town in the first place was because of the stories of Celebi's forest. Hundreds of years ago, during a time of great peace, it was said that Celebi lived in what is now known as Hex Forest, bring great health and prosperity to humans, Pokémon, and plants alike. The humans who lived near the forest would bring gifts for Celebi and leave them for her to find, and when their Pokémon got injured, they'd bring them into the forest and she would come heal them. But one day out of nowhere, Celebi disappeared, seemingly for no reason. But the people who lived beside her knew Celebi could travel through time and took her leaving as an omen of dangerous times to come. It's said that one day, when peace is brought to the area, she will return. But until then, they said, in return for their gifts, Celebi had left one of her own. Their tales spoke of place deep in the heart of the forest where the sky is always filled with starlight and people and Pokémon hurt in heart or body can be healed. 

"Steve, could you call out your Entranced Eevvee? I want to try something."

Steve nodded and released Eevvee from her Pokeball onto the worktable. She knew Dr. Erskine, but not well, and growled at him when he reached toward her, stone in hand. But she begrudgingly allowed him to touch the stone to her paw. Steve waited with baited breath, but nothing happened.

Dr. Erskine sat the stone on the table and pulled his hand back.

"Sorry, Steve," he said. "I really thought that would work. I'd long suspected that 'a place where the sky is always filled with starlight' might refer to a cave in the mountains in Hex Forest with glittering stones which would carry healing properties. But I guess I need to go back to the drawing board on that one."

Steve reached to pick up the stone so he could look at it closer under the light. Certainly it had to mean something or else why would Bucky have bothered to leave it for him. When he grabbed the stone still nestled between Eevvee's paws, something warm swept through him. It felt like a breeze in late spring, carrying the smell of warm grass and rustling the leaves of the forest around him. He took a few steps back from the table, stone still in hand, and his eyes came up to meet Eevvee's now clear, steady, staring straight back at him.

From there everything moved like a blur. Dr. Erskine's theory was that the Entranced Pokémon could only have their hearts healed by a trainer they trusted, and a dozen other Entranced Pokémon SHIELD trainers had been working with were healed after Eevvee. A few, the Ponyta and Voltorb Steve had just captured in the week prior included, weren't healed by the stone, but Dr. Erskine had faith that with more time with their trainers, they'd be able to be healed as well. They still weren't sure how Hydra had created the Entranced in the first place, but knowing they must have access to a cave in Hex Forest where the stone came from, gave the SHIELD agents a better idea of where they should be looking for Hydra's base, and Agent Romanov had located it at the southwest edge of the mountain. Before Steve knew it, there were triple the number of SHIELD agents as he was used to seeing gathered in New Bark Town, doing retcon on the base and planning their infiltration. They'd attacked the base in the middle of the night when it was easier to get close enough to the guards to knock them out so they could reach the doors without sounding the alarm. Agent Romanov had her Glaceon freeze the lock so it was easier to smash open and then everything burst into battle. Steve did his share of fighting, snagging as many Entranced Pokémon as he could, and knocking out Hydra agents so they could be taken for questioning by SHIELD later on. Throughout the entire battle, he was looking for Bucky, but never spotted him. 

Steve was relieved, of course, when the battle was done and SHIELD victorious, but he couldn't help feel that the victory rang a bit hollow. When he'd thought about how the battle would end, when they were planning their attack, he always thought that he'd be leaving with Bucky by his side. That they would come back to New Bark Town and Steve would break through Bucky's entrancing with the stone Bucky had left him. Instead he came back alone, trying to take comfort that they had dealt such a blow to Hydra and that the agents they had captured might have some useful information.

Sam laid a hand of Steve's shoulder as they both stood in the crowded lobby of SHIELD headquarters waiting for their Pokémon to be healed. "We'll keep looking," Sam said. "We'll find him."

In the following weeks, Director Fury and Agent Hill worked to gain intel from the captured Hydra agents. They were able to find out the location of several other bases and hideouts and SHIELD agents were sent out on missions to take down the remaining Hydra operatives. They learned how Hydra scientists had created the entrancing process to lock away a Pokémon's spirit and how they had later learned that the Relic Stones, their name for the stones used to heal Entranced Pokémon, could undo the process, which is why they had set up a base in Hex Forest to protect the cave. Direct Fury pulled Steve aside one day to inform him that the Winter Solider had been missing since before the attack on the base. He was meant to be on patrol of the forest to kill any SHIELD agent that got too close to the mountain, but had never come back after being sent out.

Steve had left New Bark town immediately and set out to Hex Forest. Sam wanted to come with him, but Steve knew he needed to do this on his own if there was any chance of getting Bucky to recognize him and accept his help. Bucky had never met Sam and wouldn't trust him. Steve couldn't take the Relic Stone with him, they needed it at SHIELD to keep working toward healing the Entranced Pokémon under their care, but Steve knew where Hydra's base was and that the cave the Relic Stones came from had to be nearby.  
There was something too that felt right about going on the final bit of this journey alone with nothing but his basic survival tools and supplies in his backpack. It was how he'd started looking for Bucky all those months ago and hopefully soon he'd be ending it with Bucky by his side. 

He'd been able to borrow a boat to reach Azalea town and headed north from there toward the mountains. Once he reached the building nestled in the foot of the mountain that had been Hydra's base, Steve began his search. He sent out Bellossom, Squirtle, Eevvee, and Vulpix (Mareep didn't like to go off on his own and Noctowl would still be sleeping), reminded them what the Relic Stone looked like, and they split up to search the edge of the mountain for any sign of a cave.

They searched for hours until the sun began to dip toward the horizon. Steve gather Squirtle, Eevvee, and Vulpix and called them back to their Pokeballs so they could rest for the night, but he couldn't seem to find Bellossom. He called out for her, thankful that he no longer needed to be stealthy in the forest, but she didn't come. He was starting to get worried and wondered if he should send his other Pokémon out again, this time to look for her, when he spotted a gap in the rocks by his feet. It was a small entrance, only a few feet tall and wide, but when he got down on his knees and peered into it he saw the blinding glimmering of thousands of pinpricks of light. He crawled down the sloped entrance into a cave tall enough for him and maybe five other people to stand. The light was beautiful and blinding, sparkling around him brighter than an stars he had ever seen.

"Bell, bell, bell," came a familiar chattering voice as Bellossom bounded through the entrance and came to stand at Steve's feet staring up at the cave walls in wonder. Behind her, a tall figure entered the cave and stood back up to his full height. 

"Thank you," Steve whispered to Bellossom for bringing Bucky to him and moved slowly to where Bucky stood. 

Bucky flinched back from Steve when Steve reached a hand toward him, but didn't try to push Steve away. Steve rested one hand on the wall of the cave and the other on Bucky's cheek, and the cold still air of the cave was suddenly filled with the feeling of warm sun and the smell of grass and trees. 

Bucky?" Steve asked.

"Yeah," Bucky said. "It's me, Steve. It's me."


End file.
